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thedeadhaji
39489 Posts
Book Review 2013 H1
2013-07-23
Towards the beginning of 2013, I recieved a request from a reader for a book review of the books I had read in 2012. I never did get around to this, but I thought I'd instead list and write a little bit about the books I've read in the first half of this year. I've written one liners for the books that I thought were particularly interesting or well written.
Japanese Books are marked with (J).
1. Republic Lost - Lawrence Lessig:
The first book I read this year has also been the most important. A seminal book on the corruption of the US Congress.
2. iWoz - Steve Wozniak:
A must read for an engineering geek. A pass otherwise.
3. The Giver - Lois Lowry:
Reread. As good as I had remembered it, from 15+ years ago.
4. Fixing the Game - Roger L. Martin
5. (J) Perfect Blue - Miyuki Miyabe:
A heartwarming, fun and light mystery novel.
6. The Bonfire of the Vanities - Tom Wolfe:
Incredible storytelling. Genre-defining.
7. (J) Trinity Blood - Sunao Yoshida
8. What Money Can't Buy - Michael Sandel:
Insightful, given the trend for seeing everything from an economic perspective lately.
9. A Farewell to Arms - Ernest Hemingway:
Gutwrenching and heartbreaking. No wonder they call it a masterpiece.
10. (J) Half Moon Series vol 2 - Tsumugu Hashimoto
11. (J) Half Moon Series vol 3 - Tsumugu Hashimoto
12. (J) Half Moon Series vol 4 - Tsumugu Hashimoto
13. (J) Half Moon Series vol 5 - Tsumugu Hashimoto
14. (J) Half Moon Series vol 6 - Tsumugu Hashimoto
15. (J) Half Moon Series vol 7 - Tsumugu Hashimoto
16. (J) Half Moon Series vol 8 - Tsumugu Hashimoto
17. (J) The Blind Spot of Veiss - Housuke Nojiri:
Space SF of the classic kind.
18. (J) The Equation that the Professor Loved - Yoko Ogawa:
Every character is a kind, charming soul.
19. (J) The Dragon Sleeps - Miyuki Miyabe:
Yet another great yet light weight mystery from Miyabe.
20. (J) The Night Ferris Wheel - Kanae Minato:
Depicts the imperfections of Japanese families exquisitely.
21. (J) How They Lived Death - Shigeaki Hinohara
22. (J) Wheel of Fire - Miyuki Miyabe
23. (J) Divided Front - Kanata Takase
24. Lester Land - Lawrence Lessig:
A light weight version of Republic, Lost. A good primer book on the subject.
25. The Perdators' Ball - Connie Bruck:
Great reporting, poor storytelling.
26. The Will to Lead - Marvin Bower
27. (J) Only You Can Hear - Otsuichi
28. (J) Genshoku Edo Goyomi - Miyuki Miyabe
29. (J) Hatsumonogatari - Miyuki Miyabe
30. Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury:
Reread. Didn't realize how riveting this book is the first time around.
31. Free as in Freedom - Sam Williams:
For Free Software aficionados.
32. The Cathedral and the Bazaar - Eric Raymond
33. Gathering Blue - Lois Lowry
34. The Messenger - Lois Lowry
35. Deadeye Dick - Kurt Vonnegut
36. Bluebeard - Kurt Vonnegut
37. South of the Border, West of the Sun - Haruki Murakami:
The traslator does quite a good job yet still couldn't capture the original's air completely. Shows just how hard translations are to get right.
38. The Time Machine - H.G. Wells:
Unbelievable that this could have been written before 1900.
39. The HP Way - David Packard:
Proof that HP has strayed far from its roots.
40. Sirens of Titan - Kurt Vonnegut:
The best (and least strange) Vonnegut book I've read so far.
41. The Dog Stars - Peter Heller:
Desolate yet somehow charming postapocalyptic SF novel.
42. The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow - Cory Doctorow
43. The Road - Cormac McCarthy:
The most masterfully depressing book I have ever read.
Overall I think the fiction has been better than the nonfiction (a lot of nonfiction tends to be a bit trite in hindsight). The Bonfire of the Vanities, A Farewell to Arms, and The Road were all incredible books.
I have a stretch goal of reading 100 books this year but it's somewhat unlikely I'll get there since I'll be busier in the fall. It's been great being able to read a wide variety of books so far this year though.
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Crossposted from here
 
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Hong Kong9154 Posts
some of the titles here remind me that i should probably re-read some of the things i was forced to read at school with the new lens of not having it be for a grade.
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Is perfect blue the book the animated movie of the same name was based off? Cause that was pretty decent, if rather trippy.
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the road. made me cry. so sad. :'((
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The Giver is really good, as is The Time Machine. Both of which I've read.
What is Free as in Freedom about exactly? Is it worth reading or..?
Also, I just read Super Boys and am currently reading Steve Jobs.
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thedeadhaji
39489 Posts
On July 25 2013 10:19 itsjustatank wrote:
some of the titles here remind me that i should probably re-read some of the things i was forced to read at school with the new lens of not having it be for a grade.
every book I've reread from school has been great reads. Totally recommend it. And I used to *despise* reading in HS!
On July 25 2013 11:15 snively wrote:
the road. made me cry. so sad. :'((
Seriously T_T.
I don't know what got into McCarthy to write a non-cowboy novel but damn, damn he is good.
On July 25 2013 11:38 3FFA wrote:
The Giver is really good, as is The Time Machine. Both of which I've read.
What is Free as in Freedom about exactly? Is it worth reading or..?
It's about Richard Stallman and the Free Software Movement. It's only really worth reading if you're a programmer or similar engineer, or are really into learning about the more moral and philosophical aspects of software.
On July 25 2013 10:35 [Erasmus] wrote:
Is perfect blue the book the animated movie of the same name was based off? Cause that was pretty decent, if rather trippy.
Nope! completely unrelated! I don't think this book was ever translated to English but if you're learning Japanese the prose is relatively simple and approachable so I recommend it 
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thedeadhaji
39489 Posts
On July 25 2013 11:38 3FFA wrote:
Also, I just read Super Boys and am currently reading Steve Jobs.
O_O Super Boys looks really interesting.
The Steve Jobs bio has been sitting on my bookshely ever since it came out T_T
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On July 25 2013 11:49 thedeadhaji wrote:Show nested quote +On July 25 2013 11:38 3FFA wrote:
Also, I just read Super Boys and am currently reading Steve Jobs. O_O Super Boys looks really interesting. The Steve Jobs bio has been sitting on my bookshely ever since it came out T_T
Super Boys is certainly worth reading. It makes you see out of the characters' eyes. See everything in the way they did, and shows many things that they left an underlying meaning behind in. Really amazing book overall. I would certainly recommend it, although it is rather long at about 450 pages but it is worth it.
Steve Jobs is... interesting. An odd upbringing that really aligned a lot of stuff for him. If his parents had made different decisions he would've probably been completely different imo. Anyways, it left out some stuff I wish it had included, but then, it is 600 pages and no one book could've covered all of Steve's incidents that he ran into.
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This is just a list of books, not a review at all. You didn't even write one liners for most of them, so how is this useful whatsoever?
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Great list and congrats on all the reading. Dog Stars was one of my favorites from 2012 and The Road, OMG. If you're looking for a fast, not particularly deep Post-Apocalyptic try The Fifth Wave, published just recently. Great page turner. Currently almost through Muramaki's 1Q84, one of the best books I've read in years. Highly recommend.
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On July 25 2013 12:14 Sero wrote:
This is just a list of books, not a review at all. You didn't even write one liners for most of them, so how is this useful whatsoever?
See all the people replying and talking about the books? That's why it's useful. Also notice how haji is replying to people who comment? It means you could ask for more detail on a title if you were interested. The only thing useless in this thread is your comment.
And 2.17/5 over 6 ratings??
5/5 Good blog.
Edit: I feel like the people rating are the ones not reading. They're just coming into the blog, seeing it's not a single long review/s and then 1 starring without a second glance.
Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut sounds good. I sometimes find his books a little heavy. Least strange sounds attractive. I should check out The Time Machine as well. Nice to hear an endorsement of it. Definitely makes me more inclined to read a classic when I hear positive reviews.
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k, I'm picking up iWoz, Free as in Freedom, and What Money Can't Buy.
Computer geek represents !!
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thedeadhaji
39489 Posts
On July 25 2013 12:34 ActionSeth wrote:
Great list and congrats on all the reading. Dog Stars was one of my favorites from 2012 and The Road, OMG. If you're looking for a fast, not particularly deep Post-Apocalyptic try The Fifth Wave, published just recently. Great page turner. Currently almost through Muramaki's 1Q84, one of the best books I've read in years. Highly recommend.
Yup Dog Stars was a great novel. Love Bangley's quirky yet somehow endearing behavior (though I'd probably be so pissed at him if I were in Hig's shoes haha).
I just put a hold on The Fifth Wave at my local library! (yeah I'm one of those guys who still uses that quaint old institution)
Can't get enough of dystopian or post-apocalyptic SF!
1Q84 was coming out while I was living in Japan but I never felt like checking it out. Since you endorse it, I might just ask a friend to buy it for me when one comes over to the states next time
On July 25 2013 13:42 Subversive wrote:Show nested quote +On July 25 2013 12:14 Sero wrote:
This is just a list of books, not a review at all. You didn't even write one liners for most of them, so how is this useful whatsoever? See all the people replying and talking about the books? That's why it's useful. Also notice how haji is replying to people who comment? It means you could ask for more detail on a title if you were interested. The only thing useless in this thread is your comment. And 2.17/5 over 6 ratings?? 5/5 Good blog. Edit: I feel like the people rating are the ones not reading. They're just coming into the blog, seeing it's not a single long review/s and then 1 starring without a second glance.
Well I sure have a host of so called 'haters' on TL (totally understandable given my frequently didactic blog posts and strange writing style, but I'm learning to let the haters go on hating (to quote some great rapper philosopher) and try to focus and appreciate the portion of readers who enjoy reading what I write. Even Mani had a long period where his posts were rated like crap irrespective of the content so I have to learn to like with this  .
Even thinking for myself, I often don't bother rating "good" blog posts and only rate "really great" posts (like those of UmbraaeternuS). Given that rarely do my posts elicit that kind of reaction, it statistically makes sense to me how I'd get way more low ratings than high ratings. People are coerced into action through indignation much more readily than faint appreciation.
That being said I'll often ignore a comment thread that has become highly contentious so maybe I should improve on that.
Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut sounds good. I sometimes find his books a little heavy. Least strange sounds attractive. I should check out The Time Machine as well. Nice to hear an endorsement of it. Definitely makes me more inclined to read a classic when I hear positive reviews.
Some of Vonnegut are sooooo strange that I wouldn't recommend them (Time Quake and Breakfast of Champions are both way too strange for me), but I really liked Sirens of Titan. It's *almost* like a normal novel! Cat's Cradle was pretty good too.
Time Machine was written in 1895 or thereabouts so it's certainly "dated", but it has a really nice style that I think you might enjoy. It's a pretty short story so it should be manageable too.
On July 25 2013 13:58 boon2537 wrote:
k, I'm picking up iWoz, Free as in Freedom, and What Money Can't Buy.
Computer geek represents !!
Woohoo if you're a computer geek I think you'll enjoy both the first two books!
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My mom read me The Time Machine when I was a younger kid, probably like 11 or so. I really enjoyed that book . It's funny that your taste in books is so different from what I had expected; I had expected you to read a lot more short fiction, though I don't exactly know why O.o. Your book choices here are awesome . Are there any you would specifically recommend out of all of them, like a top 5?
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thedeadhaji
39489 Posts
On July 26 2013 00:03 docvoc wrote:My mom read me The Time Machine when I was a younger kid, probably like 11 or so. I really enjoyed that book . It's funny that your taste in books is so different from what I had expected; I had expected you to read a lot more short fiction, though I don't exactly know why O.o. Your book choices here are awesome . Are there any you would specifically recommend out of all of them, like a top 5?
Short fiction is awesome but I think I'm just bad at finding them. I have a volume of Philip K Dick's short story collection sitting on my desk so I should get around to that. It's a shame they haven't translated Shinichi Hoshi's short short collections; they're not deep at all but a lot of fun to read.
I'm assuming fiction, so to give a top 5 for this year would be:
1. The Bonfire of Vanities (ridiculously good storytelling)
2. The Road (beware super depressing)
3. A Farewell to Arms (getwrenching and heartbreaking)
4. Fahrenheit 451 (such good depiction of the frantic psyche of the protagonist)
5. The Rook (I read this in July so it's not on here, but this book is tons of fun. Think superhero meets 007, but make it all twisted and weird)
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Fahrenheit 451 was a really good read. I think it was recommended as a choice for one of our book reports in HS but I ended up choosing to do one on some other book.
Ended up just picking it up in a used-book sale cause the title was familiar.
I'll have to check out all those others in your top 5 as I have not read those yet!
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thedeadhaji
39489 Posts
On July 26 2013 10:34 rebdomine wrote:
Fahrenheit 451 was a really good read. I think it was recommended as a choice for one of our book reports in HS but I ended up choosing to do one on some other book.
Ended up just picking it up in a used-book sale cause the title was familiar.
I'll have to check out all those others in your top 5 as I have not read those yet!
those are the moments that amazon will never be able to replace!
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On July 25 2013 14:22 thedeadhaji wrote:Show nested quote +On July 25 2013 13:42 Subversive wrote:On July 25 2013 12:14 Sero wrote:
This is just a list of books, not a review at all. You didn't even write one liners for most of them, so how is this useful whatsoever? See all the people replying and talking about the books? That's why it's useful. Also notice how haji is replying to people who comment? It means you could ask for more detail on a title if you were interested. The only thing useless in this thread is your comment. And 2.17/5 over 6 ratings?? 5/5 Good blog. Edit: I feel like the people rating are the ones not reading. They're just coming into the blog, seeing it's not a single long review/s and then 1 starring without a second glance. Well I sure have a host of so called 'haters' on TL (totally understandable given my frequently didactic blog posts and strange writing style, but I'm learning to let the haters go on hating (to quote some great rapper philosopher) and try to focus and appreciate the portion of readers who enjoy reading what I write. Even Mani had a long period where his posts were rated like crap irrespective of the content so I have to learn to like with this . Even thinking for myself, I often don't bother rating "good" blog posts and only rate "really great" posts (like those of UmbraaeternuS). Given that rarely do my posts elicit that kind of reaction, it statistically makes sense to me how I'd get way more low ratings than high ratings. People are coerced into action through indignation much more readily than faint appreciation. That being said I'll often ignore a comment thread that has become highly contentious so maybe I should improve on that. Show nested quote +Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut sounds good. I sometimes find his books a little heavy. Least strange sounds attractive. I should check out The Time Machine as well. Nice to hear an endorsement of it. Definitely makes me more inclined to read a classic when I hear positive reviews. Some of Vonnegut are sooooo strange that I wouldn't recommend them (Time Quake and Breakfast of Champions are both way too strange for me), but I really liked Sirens of Titan. It's *almost* like a normal novel! Cat's Cradle was pretty good too. Time Machine was written in 1895 or thereabouts so it's certainly "dated", but it has a really nice style that I think you might enjoy. It's a pretty short story so it should be manageable too.
You're right about indignation being a greater motivator than approval. I tend to rate any decent, above average blog a 5. Especially if I think the writer made a substantial effort. I feel most people put no time into their blogs and they're just essentially doing the equivalent of talking to their cat in public. I guess I do the opposite and only rate a blog that offends me poorly and otherwise concentrate on rating the good blogs.
I read most of Breakfast of Champions, found it a little too surreal for my taste as well.
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I remember reading The Giver, it was probably one of the most interesting thing I had read back in middle school. Especially when all the other book around were pretty much kid friendly books, like Goose Bumps, Animorphs, Scary Stories, etc.
Had no idea that Trinity Blood was a novel! Well at least if it's the same Trinity Blood that was an anime. Love the story, but I remember feeling like it was cut short, so it being a full length novel would be the reason why. Besides short stories on Starcraft that I still read nowadays, I really love reading a good Japanese Light Novel, but sadly it's so hard to get a hold on an English translated one.
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United Kingdom14103 Posts
As someone who has basically stopped reading with the exception of articles, you make me feel bad haji :/
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EPT
